


Amor fati

by CheshireCaine



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cute, GinIchi Day 2020, M/M, Pre-Slash, University, a bunch of Rangiku mentions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:14:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26019373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheshireCaine/pseuds/CheshireCaine
Summary: The one time running an errand for Ran worked out for Gin. Who'd have guessed?Mundane/Modern AU
Relationships: Ichimaru Gin/Kurosaki Ichigo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 63
Collections: GinIchi Day 2020





	Amor fati

**Author's Note:**

> i spent like 4 hours editing and i'm sleepy so i'll name this in the morning.
> 
> i'd like to thank everyone who worked on something for GinIchi Day + the friends whose dms i spammed whining about editing

Gin parted two ornate hardbacks. He blinked at the shadowed chasm behind them, void of the prize he knew they guarded. He fished an arm in behind the row of books, rummaging till flesh hit hard cloth. He tugged free his elusive catch and flipped through, enjoying a private smile while nobody could see, before he strode off gamely.

Students had littered the desks earlier but the herd thinned when the sun dropped. Lacking its warmth, the indoor lights were a nuisance too, blinking enough they gave Gin a headache. He was only here for Ran’s scarf – (“ _Please_ , I forgot it after Shuuhei came to study.” “Do the kids call snog fests study seshes now?” “Ah, fuck off.”) – while she headed into town for her date. No student of sound mind condemned themselves to wasting an eleven on a Friday here _willingly_.

Except for that one, crammed into a booth. A classic meal deal of frenziedly scrawled notes, laptop and bouncing skinny-jeaned legs. A redhead poured into a slim, grey V-neck jumper and armed with a viciously stern glare. He scribbled on a post-it, stuck his biro between his teeth and battered away at the text brick on his screen with the kind of ferocity you reserved for fighting God.

Gin slowed to a stop at his shoulder, overly conscious of his shadow cascading across the desk. Awkward seconds crawled by but he went unnoticed. So he dropped the book on a heap of paper and strolled away.

“Oh fu-!” The pen clattered as it hit the laptop keys and its owner scrambled. “Hey. Hey, excuse me!”

He bolted after Gin, who had done a shit job at escaping. “How did you-? I mean, Ichigo. Wait, no.” He squeezed the ridge between his eyes and sighed. “Clearly, I’ve been staring at my essay too long. I meant to say, I’ve been looking for that book for ages. I have no clue how you found it, but thank you. I’m Ichigo by the way.”

“. . . Gin.”

“ _Gin._ ” His name spilling from those lips set Gin’s knees trembling. “Thank you again, Gin.”

“It wasn’t a hassle.”

“Wasn’t a-!” Ichigo paused to slowly breathe in. “You don’t understand. I’ve been looking for this book for _three days!_ Criticising it is the bulk of my argument. There are no digital copies and nobody ever took it out until this week. You’re missing how much you’ve saved me! And my essay. And maybe my degree, but definitely my dignity.”

(Ichigo was, tragically, not kidding about that last part. If he couldn’t trounce Uryuu this year, he took the baton of a dinner out for Ryuuken’s birthday. Christ knew the Ishidas needed some chill. Otherwise, plan B: tricking his dad into going instead.)

“I didn’t quote a line I needed and I cut those paragraphs, but now, I can stick them back in. I’m _done_. So I can’t let you go without thanking you.”

Ran always told Gin he was allergic to sincerity. (It was why her every Christmas gift came with a dollop of teasing.) Gin couldn’t process a happy . . . really hot guy clasping at his wrists like they were a lifering. There was only one thing he could do – _emote nothing_.

“It was behind some . . . books I was looking at. I saw you searching the shelves the other day and took a guess.”

Only a slight lie. Gin had been an aisle down and heard talking:

_“Shove it somewhere and let’s go! I’ve got a party to crash and I won’t let him get away with pawing at Nel again.”_

_“Did she tell you that was a problem or are you just jealous?”_

_“Can it, Tesla! We gotta_ move _.”_

And later, he meandered by right as Ichigo’s knees crumpled to the floor, letting him peer under the shelves with his head against the carpet. The plastic dust jackets squealed as Ichigo took a final stab and checked behind a row of books, but he walked away while Gin travelled down the narrow aisle. Gin only realised the connection after seeing him again.

And now with Ichigo’s item returned to him, the universe was in balance or something.

“Sorry, this is probably a lot right now. I’m just really, really tired. I’ll buy you a coffee. Tomorrow.” Ichigo looked at his watch, looked at Gin, looked back at his watch again. “Uh, I mean the _other tomorrow_?”

“Because you’ll be dead in the morning.” Ran was going to check Gin over for signs he’d been bodysnatched. But with how heavy Ichigo’s eyes were, it was easier to side-step time with a guy that actually appealed to him. “You should finish your essay and go to sleep. It’ll be Saturday soon anyway.”

 _“True._ But I still wanna ask you out.” 

Gin’s slow blink failed to express the stampeding of his heart towards a fierce crescendo.

“Coffee’s a good start- Way? No.” He chuckled at himself endearingly. “A good way to get to know someone you might like. And I _think_ I like you already. So, it’s coffee. _Sunday?_ ” He was lurching backwards before Gin could muster his thoughts – his presence was so commanding, Gin forgot he was clinging to consciousness with a fusion of effort and deadline pressure.

“If you’re done by midnight, I’ll take you to my regular. In the afternoon. They have comfy sofa chairs to slump on.”

“Marry me.”

“I only marry finishers.” Gin swept Ran’s scarf around his shoulders and strutted for a seat by the entrance.

Ichigo grinned, keen and tigerish. “Give me twenty minutes.”

**Author's Note:**

> ❤️❤️ Happy Friday, hope you enjoyed the fic x


End file.
